Raytheon Stands by Its Flight Options Fractional

Net sales for Flight Options increased in the fourth quarter of last year compared with the same period in 2005, but the fractional provider recorded an operating loss quarter-over-quarter. Nevertheless, parent Raytheon stands by the company. “Flight Options essentially met or exceeded all the operational objectives that we had in place,” said Raytheon CFO Dave Wajsgras. Raytheon chairman and CEO William Swanson said he is pleased with Flight Options from the aspect of “customer satisfaction and safety.” Utilization of aircraft, dead-head legs, charter, every matrix has improved, he said. But, according to Wajsgras, in December it became apparent there has been a “meaningful shift in industry conditions,” with a customer bias evolving toward jet card or membership programs versus the traditional fractional sales. He said fractional growth is “essentially flat with year-over-year growth of about 2 percent, which has been sort of the historical trend. Membership cards are growing at the 20, 30, 40 percent range year-over-year.”